Development of human tissue processing facilities to support research into composite biomarkers for disease detection

Collaboration between the academic and commercial sectors will be vital for the future of healthcare. Increasingly we are moving towards using software tools that combine the results of many different measurements and tests. This creates a comprehensive, overall picture of disease in an individual patient. These sophisticated tools provide valuable support and information for healthcare professionals to make clinical and treatment decisions. Collaboration between the academic and commercial sectors is necessary to develop these tools as they rely on both cutting-edge academic research in the understanding of disease, and their translation to the clinic as regulated products.

We will second the manager of the Live Tissue Facility (LTF) in the Department of Oncology, University of Oxford to Perspectum Ltd. The LTF is a dedicated laboratory facility for processing and analysing human tissue samples (e.g. blood samples, tumour biopsy specimens) to support research. Perspectum are world leaders in using sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to detect markers of disease.

The work that we do will develop and adapt the LTF to make it accessible to Perspectum and suitable for their research needs. This will mostly involve changes in procedures and processes and so we will be able to use existing LTF funds to achieve this. The result will be a facility that is suitable and accessible for both institutions. Using this facility Perspectum will work towards combining human tissue data with their cutting-edge imaging technology, genetic information and pathology data to create sophisticated and innovative new software tools.

The secondee will bring knowledge to Perspectum of how to process and analyse human tissue and how to equip a laboratory so that it is suitable for this work. They will also gain valuable experience of doing research in the commercial sector and take this knowledge back to the University. Here, they will use the knowledge to improve the LTF so that it is more attractive to other companies that may want to use it. The secondee will also learn to identify opportunities to commercialise the services provided by the LTF. This will generate income for the LTF and allow it to grow and expand into bigger and more impactful research projects. This will help generate more collaborations between the academic and commercial sectors and lead to faster advances in health care research.